Mika Brunson, M.M.

Mika Brunson has devoted nearly three decades to a career that bridges music education and professional performance. Currently, she teaches full-time at a high school and grade school in South Bend, Indiana, where her responsibilities span before-school and in-school band programs, group piano instruction, and orchestra or choir classes for fifth-grade and middle school students. Alongside her teaching career, she has sustained a part-time role as an orchestral musician with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, a position she secured roughly twenty years ago and continues to travel for multiple times each year. Brunson's academic foundation includes a bachelor's degree in music from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, completed in 1998, followed by a master's degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2008. It was during her graduate studies that she became a licensed Body Mapping Educator, a discipline she has since woven into both her performance practice and her teaching, helping students build awareness of how their bodies move so they can play with greater efficiency and reduced risk of injury. Her professional specialties center on body mapping, guiding beginning musicians, and orchestral performance, and she holds memberships in the American Federation of Musicians and the Association for Body Mapping Educators. Beyond the classroom and concert stage, Brunson channels her values of warmth and acceptance into causes she cares about, lending her support to efforts benefiting those in poverty, local dog rescue organizations, and the LGBTQ community. She views the arts as essential to a well-rounded education, expressing concern over how funding priorities in the United States often sideline creative disciplines in favor of measurable returns. Looking ahead, she hopes to inspire the next generation of musicians, especially young women, to stay flexible, work diligently toward their goals, and bring their authentic selves to whatever path they choose.